Efficiency measures for retail fertilizer dealers
An application of tests of economically rational behavior by fertilizer retailers is presented. Tests are developed to measure efficiency of variable cost minimization, revenue maximization, and profit maximization. These tests include standard linear programming-based nonparametric efficiency tests...
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Published in | Agribusiness (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 13; no. 5; pp. 497 - 509 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
New York
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
01.09.1997
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd Wiley Periodicals Inc |
Series | Agribusiness |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | An application of tests of economically rational behavior by fertilizer retailers is presented. Tests are developed to measure efficiency of variable cost minimization, revenue maximization, and profit maximization. These tests include standard linear programming-based nonparametric efficiency tests and simpler but less conclusive tests which are performed using only simple arithmetic. Results indicate that fertilizer retailers act as variable cost minimizers, but not as revenue and profit maximizers. Additional tests isolate whether inefficiency in cost minimization is due to a perception of variable input fixity. Management can then take steps to focus efforts on input control |
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Bibliography: | F04 U10 1997063703 E70 istex:FF3463CC935D3329740B06C463CBF9F2E671EDB4 ark:/67375/WNG-1WHJWQ0K-R ArticleID:AGR4 ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0742-4477 1520-6297 |
DOI: | 10.1002/(SICI)1520-6297(199709/10)13:5<497::AID-AGR4>3.0.CO;2-1 |